It’s been widely speculated for a few weeks now but it seems nearly definitive that actor Alden Ehrenreich will portray a young Han Solo. Disney’s upcoming standalone prequel film centering around the Star Wars mainstay that Harrison Ford made immortal in the first trilogy (as recently reappeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will be directed by The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a screenplay by Jon Kasden and Lawrence Kasden.
Disney is still keeping under lock and key what the film will specifically revolve around as its also unsure what may or may not be incorporated throughout the vast Star Wars canon of films, comics and books. Also unknown at this time is what the film may be titled. IMDb labels the movie “Untitled Han Solo Star Wars Anthology Film” while Deadline suggests a possible title may be Han Solo: A Star Wars Story, which would keep up a theme established by the upcoming spin-off project Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Can’t wait to get “shooting”!#MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/HlteYut6m0
— Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) May 4, 2016
For Ehrenreich, this marks his grandest showcase to date. The 26-year-old actor has been appearing in films for just a short time now but has already established a fairly stellar filmography – his debut, for instance, was 2009’s Tetro, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Since then, Ehrenreich headlined the YA film Beautiful Creatures, was featured in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine and Chan-wook Park’s Stoker. Earlier this year, he earned warm notices for his performance in Joel and Ethan Coen’s old Hollywood romp Hail, Caesar! and later this year, he will appear in Warren Beatty’s anticipated and currently still untitled Howard Hughes project.
Reportedly, Ehrenreich beat out a slew of young actors for the part including Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Jack Reynor (Glassland). What do you think? The as-of-yet untitled Hans Solo prequel is scheduled to open on May 25, 2018.